Unless you’ve been hiding in a cave, with your fingers in your ears, you must have heard at least some of the word of mouth about this movie, which has been almost universally positive.

The exposition in the early stages of the movie, on the Amazonians home island of Themyscira, are done very cleverly and without you even really realising it give great background into Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) growing, with guidance from her mother Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen) and training from her aunt Antiope (Robin Wright) into a powerful warrior. When American pilot Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) accidentlally crashes off the shore of the island and is rescued by Diana he brings the horror of war to this peaceful land.

Informing the warriors of what is going on outside their island, Steve reveals the story of World War I and how he must get the information he has stolen, outlining a deadly new form of mustard gas which has the potential to kill instantly, from German General Erich Ludendorff (Danny Huston) and his imbalanced scientist Doctor Maru (Elena Anaya), to his superiors in London. Convinced that Ludendorff is Ares, the God of War from Amazonian legend, banished by the God Zeus, but who will return one day, Diana leaves with Steve, along with the weapons to kill Ares, and Wonder Woman is born.

Steve and Diana head to London and are met by Steve’s secretary Etta Candy (Lucy Davis) to advise the War Cabinet that they must destroy Ludendorff’s facilities but they are met with resistance as the British are trying to negotiate an armistice with Germany. Undeterred, Steve is able to round up his team, Sameer (Said Taghmaoui), Charlie (Ewen Bremner) and Chief (Eugene Brave Rock) and with some financial help from Sir Patrick Morgan (David Thewlis), they head to the front for a showdown with Ludendorff.

I can understand the joy this movie is bringing to people who feel it really portrays the strength of women on the screen. Apart from the obvious power of the hero, director Patty Jenkins really does allude to it all through the movie, nowhere more so than a small, but brilliantly subtle moment at the Western Front trenches where Pine tells Diana that she cannot leave to help some villagers as “It’s No Man’s Land out there, no man can survive.” After which, nothing is said but it doesn’t have to be – she’s not a man, she’s Wonder Woman. It was such a powerful moment in the film and I think it’s once of those epic movie scenes which will live on in time.

In her brief appearance previously Gal Gadot looked great as Wonder Woman and when the action kicked in she really felt like she could pull of the fight sequence. She does not disappoint here either as she looks fantastic as the hero and the action scenes are great, especially the scene in the village where she absolutely kicks ass, but I still had doubts over Gadot’s acting ability as she never really convinced in previous roles. I will admit that I was wrong, here Gadot showed the characters full range full of hope, innocence, hate, sadness, pain and conflict but above all optimism fuelled by a willingness to fight for what she believes is good and right, all performed with a believability which I couldn’t fault. There’s also a nice underlying theme of good and evil inherently being in all of us and the battles we face every day to make the right choices which makes us the people we are, which I though worked in the context of the movie without getting too preachy.

There’s great chemistry between the two leads and despite the movie being predominantly about Wonder Woman, Steve Trevor is a very strong character thanks to some great writing and an absolute spot on performance from Pine. He may not have the powers of Diana but she still has a lot to learn which is where Steve comes in. The role reversal in the movie is well handled as Pine is the stranger as he crashes on the island but he becomes the teacher once they leave and he has to teach Diana about the world, it’s culture and people, all of which is handled really well, and it makes us warm to these two characters as their friendship develops and they begin to realise that, each of them has very different, but no less critical, strengths and without each other, this mission will not succeed.

As I mentioned previously, it’s not without its flaws. A lot the second half of the movie reminded me of the first Captain America film, a hero character realising the world they knew is not all it seems, finding themselves thrust into the ‘real world’ and joining with a small squad going against German villains, plus Ludendorff was almost a copy and paste for Red Skull. The film also suffered badly from the usual super hero movie issue of having weak, underutilised, villains who never really feel like there is any real peril but, then again, these are movies are all about the heroes who are going to save the day, so I can’t complain too much. Also, while the action scenes are great there are a few moments of very dodgy CGI which briefly take you out of the moment and Steve’s team, in particular, Charlie, felt very under developed but I’m really being picky with these points.

Overall, it’s a great addition to the genre, the story represents the character brilliantly without straying too far from the origins of the comic books. There are some small links to both the Batman Vs Superman movie and the upcoming Justice League films but this is a complete stand alone tale, no cameos and no post credit scenes, which was quite refreshing. So, have no doubts, Wonder Woman is now a major player in the DC Universe and if this is a taste of things to come for future DC films then I’m all in.

DJ Speaks Rating: 7 Out Of 10

©Darren Jones 2017

With his background in the fashion industry you can be guaranteed that you are going to get a beautifully shot movie with Tom Ford behind the camera and this is no exception. Amy Adams plays Susan Morrow, a Los Angeles art gallery owner who seems to have it all but her relationship with her husband Hutton (Armie Hammer) is not so rosy as it looks on the outside. It seems that their financial situation is not as grand as the lifestyle they are living. This shows us the other side of Susan, trouble trying to get a good nights sleep, with self doubts over her talent, her husbands fidelity and the friends she has showing us quite a disturbing picture of a woman on the edge.

When she unexpectedly receives a copy of a new novel from her ex husband Edward Sheffield (Jake Gyllenhaal) she is both shocked and intrigued, especially when she see the title is Nocturnal Animals, a nickname he used to call her. Her curiosity gets the better of her so she begins to read the tale and gets drawn into the memories of her former life and almost welcomes it as a form of escapism.

Told in an overlapping style from the real world, where Susan tries to get on with her life despite being so seemingly unhappy, to the story contained within the book where Jake Gyllenhaal plays Tony Hastings who along with his wife Laura (Isla Fisher) and daughter India (Ellie Bamber) are on a road trip when they are run off road by a group of men lead by Ray Marcus (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and when his wife and daughter are kidnapped her turn to the police for assistance. This brings Bobby Andes (Michael Shannon) onto the case and together the two men must track down Tony’s family and bring justice to the men involved, to Susan’s reminiscing of her younger, seemingly happier years.

The movie features, arguably, the most on point acting of a cast in any movie this year, Adams was superb (but not quite as engaging as her role in Arrival) as Susan, Taylor-Johnson was almost unrecognisable as the slimy gang leader, Gyllenhall gave his usual high standard performance as the father who turns from meek to marauder in search of his family and above all Shannon was absolutely superb, and should get a best supporting actor nomination, as the lawman with nothing to lose.

It’s the kind of movie that people will view differently despite watching the same thing as the whole movie is very open to interpretation. For me, the juxtaposition of the three threads is fantastic, jumping from the gritty, raw, desert setting of the book to the upper class circles Susan lives her life and then to the early days of their relationship when both were happy, at least to begin with, which gives a real feel of just how different Susan and Edward were. Also the cleverness of how the book becomes a non literal allegory for how Edward viewed his relationship with Susan leading up to the events which eventually drove them apart was fantastic movie making and Ford deserves credit for how he pulls you in to the story.

A cleverly built film where the jumps from the visualisation of the novel on screen, to Susan’s present life and back to her past could have been confusing but instead controls the tempo of the film so it never becomes one paced and just as you begin to get sucked into one part of the tale it switches back, keeping you on your toes at all times. With a couple of nods to a David Lynch style film, some very disturbing moments mixed up with a reality that feel dream like, a triple overlapping narrative, some great use of metaphor and eerie artwork to enhance the surrealism of the situation I can see this one developing a cult status in years to come. Best watched with as little knowledge of the plot as possible, it’s going to be a case of you making your own mind up on this one, crass or classy? I’m leaning towards the latter.

DJ Speaks Rating: 7 Out Of 10

© Darren Jones 2017

Kubo opens with a superb line ‘If you must blink do it now!’ and from that point on you are hooked into the adventure. Set in ancient Japan, Kubo (Art Parkinson) is a young boy who lives with his sick mother (Charlize Theron) at the top of a mountain outside a small village where he travels every day to tell epic stories using his power to magically manipulate paper using his guitar (or Shamisen to be technical). These tales tell the story of a samurai warrior called Hanzo, who is Kubo’s father that he believes died protecting the family when he was a baby. He returns home each evening before sunset as his mother has told him never to stay out after dark otherwise his twin Auntie’s (Rooney Mara) and his grandfather Raiden, also known as the Moon King (Ralph Fiennes) will come for Kubo as they want to steal is remaining eye since his Grandfather stole one when Kubo was only a baby.

When he finds out from the villagers of a nearby cemetery where people light lanterns to communicate with deceased family members he decides to try and contact his father but inadvertently stays too long and his aunties appear to capture him. His mother manages to come to the rescue and tells him that he must find his father’s magic armour, but when he awakes he finds himself in a strange land and with his three companions, a monkey, an origami figure and an insect samurai he must undertake an adventure to find the magical armour and defeat this grandfather.

Using stop motion animation, Kubo is one of the most visually beautiful movies you will see this year and when you throw in an excellent score to accompany it you are already onto a winner. Using a similar premise the Laika studios have already successfully used this set up to bring us both Coraline and ParaNorman, but in my opinion this tops both of those movies.

Although it may sound like a strange plot the movie is told so skillfully that it perfectly brings you along for the ride and it’s only after the movie ends you realise just how dark some of the story actually was and the studio has taken a chance that the younger audience will be able to handle the heavy themes of revenge, sacrifice and loss but with it masked behind the colour, animation and joy the movie brings I think they got it just right. Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty of humour and light hearted moments as well and it is a testament to the excellent voice acting that you feel such a bond with the characters but the sisters have t be one of the most sinister things I have seen in a kids movie as yet. When they appear they are really creepy, as they float along looking like an evil version of the freedom fighter V in black hats and capes. As the adventure progresses and we find out more about Kubo, his skills and his companions we see their sense of honour develop as we discover more about them and their motivations and there’s a great character arc for each of them.

There is very little to complain about in the movie, I could argue that the Grandfathers motivation is a little weak but I’m being picky. The plot could be deemed a little bizarre and dark but it’s supposed to be a magical tale so again it would be very harsh to criticise that, so you are left with one of those rare kids movies that adults can also really enjoy which whisks you away on a magical journey and you are more than happy to be swept along for the ride.

DJ Speaks Rating: 7 Out Of 10

 

The Daughter is an Australian movie set in a small town where a local timber mill run by Henry Neilson (Geoffrey Rush) is the main source of employment and the life blood of the area so when the announcement is made that the mill is to close the whole town seems doomed. One member of the town effected is Oliver Finch (Ewen Leslie) who seems to have a reasonably happy life with his wife Charlotte (Miranda Otto), daughter Hedwig (Odessa Young) and father Walter (Sam Neill). Walter used to be a good friend of Henrys but they have fallen out over the years as life took them in different directions. Thrown into the mix is the marriage of Henry to his younger housekeeper Anna (Anna Torv) which brings his son Christian (Paul Schneider) back from the USA and in the same way that Henry and Walter are former friends so were Christian and Oliver but Christian is a troubled man who is struggling to keep his relationship together thanks to his ongoing struggle with alcoholism and when his partner decides not to join him in Australia he battles with his desire for heavy drinking sessions returns.

The pivotal point is initially Henry but slowly drifts towards Hedwig as we begin to learn more about the history of the small town. Cristian is struggling to keep to himself together as he deals with the combined breakdown of his relationship coupled with the memories of his mothers suicide which are re-awakened by his return, his unwillingness to accept his fathers new marriage and also the re-ignition of his friendship with Oliver. he then discovers a long hidden secret which will tear their worlds apart if revealed.

With some clever camerawork, particularly the over the shoulder shots which give added realism to the situation and some very clever use of symbolism through the form of a duck which is shot by Henry at the beginning of the movie, while this may sound like a strange statement the movie is an adaptation of a book called The Wild Duck.

It is a slow moving but intriguing film with good acting all around but made all the better by the performance of Young who conveys a superb acting range as the tale drags her in many different directions of emotional turmoil and it’s dark subject matter makes a nice change from the politically correct material that normally appears on our screen, but it’s a very enjoyable experience if you’re looking for something a little less mainstream

DJ Speaks Rating: 7 Out Of 10

A sequel to both Avengers Assemble and The Winters Soldier, Civil War is hero against hero in an action packed story which involves Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross (William Hurt) championing the setting up of the Sokovia Accords, an agreement which is being put in place after yet another mission undertaken by Captain America and his team, while successful, ended up with major collateral damage and some loss of life, which places the Avengers under the control of the United Nations. This is met with mixed reactions with Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) being the main supporter and Captain America (Chris Evans) the main opposition thus bringing into play the tension between the two which escalates into the aforementioned civil war.

Thrown into the mix is the wild card of Bucky Barnes/The Winter Solider (Sebastian Stan), Captain Americas old friend turned assassin who is the main suspect in a recent terrorist attack. Captain believes this is a set up and tries to clear his friends name while Iron Man wants him brought to justice. There is also a mysterious man named Helmut Zemo (Daniel Bruhl) operating in the background who is searching for key information tied to Bucky’s past through the use of old Hydra technology.

So the scene is set for the current batch of superheroes who’ve we have met in the previous movies Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), Vision (Paul Bettany), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and War Machine (Don Cheadle), to decide where their loyalties sit and step up to the mark even if it means going against friends and former allies.

While Thor And The Hulk are missing from this movie we do get the addition of Ant Man (Paul Rudd), T’challa/Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and Spiderman (Tom Holland) to boost the number and while the plot line of this movie is weaker than the superb story told in The Winter Soldier where this film more than makes up for it is in portraying the inner turmoil, self-doubt and humanisation of all characters.

When there are so many players in a movie it often dilutes the impact they have but, while the main piece is the Captain Vs Iron Man fight, everybody is given enough screen time to justify their actions without ever detracting from the action and both Scarlet Witch and Black Panther both had enough development that a standalone movie about either is an intriguing prospect. The introduction of Spiderman had its controversies given that it’s the third actor to play the web slinger but Tom Holland, in the small amount of screen time he had, done enough to show me that they may have picked a winner this time. Teenage looks and full on nerd demeanor it was closest we have seen to the comic book version of Peter Parker yet.

It is not a perfect movie by any counts but the Russo Brothers have done a great job in bringing a huge part of the Marvel universe to the big screen and making the characters engaging without ever portraying a sense of good vs bad as you can empathise with both sides in the fight. Watching the heroes battle was never dull and even the moments in between the action are full of plot and character development which makes the two and a half hours both compelling as a standalone and intriguing as part of the development of the series and I don’t do spoilers but I will state that the second act airport scene is the best moment I have seen in any superhero movie as yet. If this is the new standard in the genre then both X-Men Apocalypse and Suicide Squad should be very interesting viewing.

DJ Speaks Rating: 7 Out Of 10

This claustrophobic thriller is loosely (and I mean very loosely) linked to the events in the original Cloverfield movie but, instead of being a sequel following on from the plot of the first film what this movie does is take a different angle and give tons of suspense and tension in a throw back style very reminiscent of something Hitchcock would have created so instead of exposition through dialogue we get subtle hints to point towards who people are and more importantly why the situation has arisen. I would recommend that you try and know as little as possible before watching this movie but I have to give some details in order to carry out this review so I will keep it to the point and will not give anything away.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays Michelle, who we see packing her bags, taking off, leaving her fiancé and hitting the road. She is involved in a serious car accident and when she wakes up is locked in a room where her captor Howard (John Goodman) advises her that he has actually saved her after coming across the accident just before the ‘event’ occurred. So he has brought her to his underground Doomsday shelter which he had built specifically for a purpose such as this. He believes they will be trapped there for an undetermined period of time until it can be established what has actually occurred above ground. Along for the ride is Emmett (John Gallagher Jr.) who helped Howard build his shelter and came running as soon as the event occurred.

That’s as much as I’m going to say as what then commences, is a cat and mouse game where Michelle needs to try and establish who is telling the truth and what has actually happened, all the while fearing for her safety from not only what has occurred above ground but from these two strangers she is trapped with below ground as well. The novel thing is that, while she is our central focus in the movie and we only ever see and hear any new information as she does, she is not some dumb damsel in distress. She is smart, manipulating and is not willing to lie down and just accept her situation but the key to the whole film is Goodmans superb performance as a man who has been seriously impacted by the event and swings from mood to mood so believable that you are never sure which, if any, of his actions are genuine.

Overall it’s a clever movie as it doesn’t hold your hand and lead you through the story, it keeps you guessing and second guessing as it drip feeds you snippets of information and let’s your imagination do the rest. The one issue I would have with the film is that there was actually no need to attach the Cloverfield label as it would have worked just as well without it, although it was a very clever marketing ploy to do so and build the hype up, but in saying that forget anything you may or may not have liked about the original Cloverfield film as they are two completely different movies and enjoy this for the tense thriller that it is.

DJ Speaks Rating: 7 out of 10

 

Jake Gyllenhaal returns to his creepiest best in this eerie tale of Lou Bloom, a man that seemingly has no ethics and no place or purpose in life who, when stumbling across the aftermath of an accident one night, decides to try and make a career out of filming live footage of accidents and crimes around the Los Angeles area.

Gyllenhaal can do creepy, we’ve seen it before in Donnie Darko, but this is a whole new level. He’s almost vampirically pale with sunken eyes and when he grins if feel like the smile of a serial killer. He rarely loses his temper yet you always feel that at any moment he could snap and his treatment of the people he meets along the way does nothing to disprove this theory.

He starts small with a camcorder, a police radio and a gunshot incident in the poorer side of town but Rene Russo as Nina Romina, a producer of a local TV station, purchases the footage, encourages him to continue and even gives him some pointers. He gradually upgrades his equipment, transport and ghoulishness so soon he is getting to accidents first, sometimes before the police, his footage gets more graphic, he gets deeper and deeper into the job and, if it was possible, seems to sink further into the more sinister areas of this psyche going so far as to tamper with accident and crime scenes in order to improve his shots. This leads to him becoming more successful which in turn places him in a position as the power player so that he feels like he can blackmail Rene Russo into improving his terms and conditions with unreasonable demands but knowing that she has no choice but to agree which leads to a compelling climax where the full lengths that Gyllenhaal is willing to go to are shown.

This movie is both troubling yet compelling at the same time, you want to be appalled by Gyllenhaals’ actions, yet you want to watch and see just how much further he’s willing to go. There’s something very reminiscent of the DeNiro character of Rupert Pupkin in movie The King Of Comedy, with how Gylenhall portrays Lou Bloom and it’s a testament to his acting just how disturbing he comes across.

It’s a neo-noir style thriller which will envelop you and in the end leaves you wanting more. Highly recommended, especially if you’re looking for something a little different.

DJ Speaks Rating: 7 out of 10

From the opening use of Juice Newton during a hilarious opening credit scene to the closing notes of Careless Whisper with the nod to Ferris Bueller, Deadpool never feels like its trying to take itself seriously. With constant fourth wall breaks and smart ass comments on all aspects of pop culture from Superheroes to Ryan Reynolds other movies and even the Spin Doctors (remember them?), it’s a refreshing  entry into the genre.

All credit to Ryan Reynolds who absolutely nails it as Wade Wilson and after his debacles in Green Lantern, Wolverine and Blade Trinity it took balls for him to have another stab in a Superhero film but he made this a project and never backed away from the challenge of getting this movie made and he plays it through every emotion almost flawlessly. The jumps from current to past and back again are well done and do a good job of building the back story without slowing the movie down as much as they could have, plus the action sequences, the use of both slow motion shots and the CGI are all excellent.

On the negative side the use of the secondary X-Men characters felt a bit shoehorned in just so that the movie could have a place in the Marvel Universe and both Angel Dust and Ajax just left like generic villains instead of building on the mutants characters that they are, although both of these points are brilliantly ripped apart in the movie anyway.

Overall, while not perfect it’s a must watch for any fan of the genre and with the large volume of upcoming superhero movies this year, it’s a great start.

DJ Speaks Rating: 7 out of 10